Scotland baseball defeats Western Harnett to break losing streak

LAURINBURG — Coming into their nonconference tilt against the Western Harnett Eagles (5-9), the Scotland baseball team (7-3) had compiled three losses in-a-row after starting the season 6-0.

Wednesday night saw that streak end however, as the Scots used three runs each in the third and fifth innings to help knock off the Eagles 7-3.

Scotland head coach Ricky Schattauer said “it was real good” to get back into the win column against Western Harnett.

“(The) win is kind of like a band-aid over what’s happened the last couple games,” he said. “We’re gonna move forward and we’re gonna build off of it.”

After their 4-1 loss against Union Pines on March 24, Schattauer said he would reevaluate his starting nine to get his best hitters in it.

While Schattauer used a different lineup against the Eagles, it wasn’t solely due to hitting. With Cadyn Graves, Jake Clemmons, and Garrett Manning all unavailable, designated hitter Thomas Taylor, third baseman Micah Clark, and left fielder Garrett Sellers all started for the Scots.

Schattauer talked about the last couple days of practice and what he did to try and improve his team’s hitting.

“We struggled hitting fastballs last week,” Schattauer said. “(So,) Monday and Tuesday at practice…we sat up here and ramped the machine up very hard. We come out and face a guy who’s throwing it really soft (Wednesday night), so I was very pleased to see the guys make the adjustment, stay back, and be able to hit the ball eventually.”

Blane Wagner began on the mound for the Scots, while Jackson Rosser was the starting pitcher for Western Harnett.

Both teams went scoreless in the first two innings, but the offense opened up for both teams in the third.

Runs from Western Harnett’s Brayden Schaefer and Seth McLamb put the Eagles on top 2-0 heading into the bottom of the inning, before the Scots answered with three runs of their own.

With Garrett Sellers on second, Alex Hatcher singled on a hard ground ball to score Sellers and put the Scots on the board.

After Wagner singled to advance Turner Bounds from second to third, Wagner would steal second. The move by Wagner led to Bounds scoring on an error from McLamb, the catcher, before Wagner advanced to third on the same error, then to home on an error from Western Harnett center fielder Zach Hooper, before Luke Taylor flied out to end the inning.

Neither team scored another run until the bottom of the fifth, when the Scots piled up three more runs to extend their lead to 6-2.

Hatcher was on second and Bounds was on first, before Eli McCoy brought in Hatcher and advanced Bounds to third with an RBI double on a line drive to right field.

After Dylan Tucker came in as a courtesy runner for McCoy, Luke Taylor was walked to load the bases. Rosser was relieved for Sam Kuzinski afterwards but Kuzinski walked Thomas Taylor in his first six pitches on the bump, which brought home Bounds.

Micah Clark singled on a bunt in the next at bat to bring in Tucker, before Luke Taylor was out at home and Thomas Taylor was out at third to move the game into the sixth inning.

Lawton Hickman added a run for the Eagles in the top of the sixth to make the score 6-3, but the Scots matched the run in the bottom of the inning.

A Dawson Williams triple on a line drive to center field immediately put him into scoring position with one out in the inning. While Hatcher was up next to hit, a wild pitch from Kuzinski to Hatcher led to Williams scoring the final run of the game.

McCoy was 3-for-3 at the plate and had an RBI, while Hatcher finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, as well. Clark went 2-for-3 in the game and also recorded an RBI.

Wagner earned the win for Scotland, allowing three runs on five hits, walking one, and striking out eight in six innings pitched.

Hatcher relieved Wagner after the sixth inning and allowed no runs nor hits and struck out one.

Rosser took the loss for the Eagles, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking four, recording three errors, and striking out three in 4 1/3 innings pitched.

Kuzinski pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits, walked two, recorded one error, and struck out one.

The Scots recorded 10 hits in 24 at bats.

The Scots continue their three-game nonconference stretch against the St. Pauls Bulldogs on March 30 at 7 p.m. in Laurinburg.

Schattauer said he believes the quick turnaround will be beneficial to getting his team some much-needed momentum.

“I’m looking forward to no days of rest and just kind of getting back after it, and staying focused,” he said.